Jerry Kennelly, founder of design agency Tweak.com, reveals that his best business decision was knowing when to exit.

Jerry Kennelly, founder of design agency Tweak.com, reveals that his best business decision was knowing when to exit.

‘I set up Stockbyte in 1996 and Stockdisc in 2004. They were the first royalty-free photography libraries. The businesses grew very rapidly indeed. We captured 10 per cent of the global royalty-free stock photography market in ten years and we were creating about 5,000 new images a month.

‘But a new model was emerging based on crowdsourcing. We felt that in time it was going to have a huge impact on our valuation. By April 2006 we’d finalised a deal with Getty Images for an outright sale of Stockbyte and Stockdisc for $135 million in cash.

‘That was the last acquisition in the industry of note. Market rates dropped over 70 per cent thereafter following the advent of micro-stock and advances in digital photographic technology. It was a bittersweet decision in many ways, but it was for the benefit of everyone and employees were well rewarded.

‘We were lucky to find a way to enter the market and it was important to be clever at the point of exit. I guess the lesson is to be aware of the space that you’re in. It gave me the experience and means to set in motion the development of [design and print services website] Tweak.com, which was launched this year. Many people believe I’m a one-trick pony but Tweak will be the test of that.’